It’s hosted just about every Midland rock legend you can think of... but Selly Oak’s Rich Bitch Studios closed its doors to musicians this week for the last time.

Before you can say another piece of our music heritage has bitten the dust, it’s not all doom and gloom.

While the site is set to be redeveloped for student accommodation, founding owner Rob Bruce is busy hatching a plan to open a new facility complete with a revamped main recording studio.

The number of associated rehearsal rooms will drop from 13 to five if he secures a site identified in nearby Heeley Road.

But, although he has plans to go “a bit up market” he promises that prices will barely rise to match – perhaps from £15 per room per hour to £18, still good value for groups of whatever size.

“We don’t want to lose the ability to make people feel comfortable,” says Rob, 67.

“We are already getting second generations of musicians coming, with the children of those who came in the early years now using us."

The end of an era for another key part of Birmingham's music heritage (Image: Graham Young)

The history boys – and girl

Rob adds: “This building used to be an engineering company, but even though we expanded within it we were always constrained with what we could do by the Belfast roof and things like fire regulations.”

Star names who have passed through the doors at Rich Bitch range from Robert Plant to Roy Wood, Ronnie James Dio – and Birmingham's own Ruby Turner.

And those are just the people who put the R into Rich.

Other acts include Slade’s Dave Hill, ELO, UB40, The Editors and, if there’s one band which could be said to have been made on the premises, then that was The Wonder Stuff.

“Everyone who has been someone has been through these door in one shape or another,” says Rob.

Another local regular has been Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, last seen on the premises three months ago.

Guess who has never been through the famous doors!

The biggest star who has thus far eluded Rob, you might be surprised to learn, is Birmingham’s most famous son – Ozzy Osbourne.

“Sabbath were supposed to come just before their last gig at the O2, but for various reasons it just didn’t work out,” says Rob.

“But the Tony Martin and Ronnie James Dio versions of Sabbath all played here and Cozy Powell was a regular visitor.”

A stack of cases bearing the legend ‘Yamaha Drums’ and the name Cozy Powell (killed in a car crash in 1998 at the age of 50) are still in the studios.

Each case seems big enough to swallow a swimming pool, not just a bass drum.

“He used to being a ton of stuff,” laughs Rob.

“And I thought: ‘This is just the drummer?!'

“He even had his own 4K monitoring system but, like so many stars who came here, he was always happy to talk to the other musicians who might have been rehearsing here on the night and to sign autographs.”

Studio owner Rob Bruce with the original Rich Bitch poster, a unique piece of artwork which greeted customers for three decades (Image: Graham Young)

Is there one act Rob couldn’t resist pressing his ear to the door for?

“That would have to be Earth Wind & Fire,” smiles Rob.

“I wanted to see if their brass section really was that tight – and they were.”

A former lead guitarist himself before becoming a sound engineer, Rob’s own attempt to become a star involved going to France and Germany and playing almost daily shows for two years to Vietnam-bound US servicemen.

“We were called Deuces Wild. After four months we were singerless, came home and went with a new lead – Linda, who became my (late) wife.

Red telephone box in a communal area (Image: Graham Young)

“Our son, Mark, who has three daughters, is now a sound engineer working with Sad Cafe.

“With Linda & The Blend, we played most of the clubs in Birmingham from The Cedar to Barbarellas, except Mothers.

“There was The Dolce Vita in town, the Cavendish in Yardley... we had residencies at these places and would support everyone from Lulu to Bob Monkhouse.

“There was the Ritz in Kings Heath (where we missed The Beatles), the Plaza at Old Hill, where we supported The Walker Brothers when they were No 1 in the charts, and we also supported The Kinks at the Plaza in Handsworth.”

An upturned sofa signals the end of an era at Rich Bitch studios (Image: Graham Young)

Who does he wished had come to play?

“Phil Collins, whose team sent all of his kit and a Mitsubishi X32 recording machine which matched ours.

“It was so big they left it downstairs and just cabled it up so that Phil would have 64 tracks.

“But before he was due to come on the Sunday he went down with a virus, so they had to dismantle everything and take it all back to London.